VW Amarok pickup first model to be recalled in Europe over emissions scandal

Volkswagen received the final approval from the German authorities for the first stage of its European recall plan, a small step towards fixing 8.5 million cars on the continent fitted with the cheating device.

After giving its provisional approval for the fixes in December, Germany’s Federal Motor Transport Authority said on Wednesday that it has given full green light for Volkswagen’s technical solution for the Amarok pickup versions powered by the 2.0-litre diesel engines. The fix is valid throughout the 28 member states of the European Union. “VW can begin the recall and inform the respective owners of these cars,” the KBA said in a statement. While the German regulators are still evaluating the proposal for other affected engines, Amarok recall will be likely followed by a callback of Passat models with the same 2.0-litre TDI at the end of February or early March. The automaker wanted to reassure the Amarok owners the fix will not affect in any way the engine power, a VW spokesman told Automotive News Europe.

The measures approved for the affected EA189 diesel engines one month ago imply only a software update for the 1.2-litre and 2.0-litre engines, with just under half an hour of labor time, while the 1.6-litre engines will also get a software update and, in addition, a “flow rectifier” to be fitted right in front of the air mass sensor. The pure labor time for the fix will be under half an hour.

With the typical defiant attitude from Volkswagen, the same since the scandal broke more than four months ago, the company spokesman said the European recall was not an admission of guilt from VW on the cheating scheme – that some reports are trailing it ten years back – because the automaker chose to accept the regulators’ decision rather than fight it. “The notice was sent to us, we did not file an appeal, and as a result the notice from the KBA became binding and therefore valid for all of Europe. That does not mean that we arrived at the same legal interpretation,” he said. VW agreed to the recall even though the company believed European emissions laws were not very clear, the spokesman said.